Credit: National Trust
Posted on 12/18/2018 7:50:27 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The National Trust’s Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, which now comprises a working farm and a Georgian mansion house, also boasts its fair share of late Iron Age and early Roman history (circa 100 BC – 150 AD). Pertaining to this incredible legacy, archaeologists (from the National Trust), conducting their excavation on the site, came across a 5 cm long copper alloy human figurine, probably dating from 2nd century AD. And while the statuette, holding a torc (high-value Celtic neck ring) is seemingly ‘faceless’, researchers have hypothesized that it represents Cernunnos – the ‘Horned One’, the Celtic god of animals, forests, and fertility. Quite intriguingly, if the object indeed portrays the ancient Celtic deity, this would be the first that a metal figurine of the ever-enigmatic Cernunnos has been found in Britain...
On the historical side of affairs, there is only a single known evidence for the full name Cernunnos, and it comes from the Pillar of the Boatmen carved by the Gaulish sailors in circa 14 AD. Considered as one of the important reliefs of the Gallo-Roman religion, the pillar additionally depicts other Roman deities like Jupiter and Vulcan. However, interestingly enough, the visual representations of the horned deity (as one of the Celtic gods) predates such inscriptions and names by centuries.
To that end, one of the apt examples would pertain to an antlered human figure featured in a 7th-4th century BC dated petroglyph in Cisalpine Gaul and other related horned figures worshipped by the Celtiberians based in what is now modern-day Spain and Portugal. And the most well-known depiction of Cernunnos can be found on the Gundestrup Cauldron (circa 1st century BC).
(Excerpt) Read more at realmofhistory.com ...
Credit: National Trust
That must be where we get our word ‘horny’ from...................................;^)
What should I assume about a god (male) with his fingers held that way ?
Cernunnos – the ‘Horned One’
Dear SyFY channel, here’s an idea for another of your low budget ‘monster of the week’ movies.
And be sure to visit the Ogham topic found in the G.C. keyword.
Meanwhile, I prefer the whimsy of Arcimboldo the Marvelous in his portrayal of Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumnus, although freely admit limited relevance to the topic at hand:
http://www.google.com/search?q=vertumnus&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&tbm=isch
Right over his stomach... he's hungry? ;^)
Gundestrup Cauldron pics:
Dating and origin of the Gundestrup Cauldron:
Where’s the horns?
So, are all those people wearing antlers this time of year secret Cernunnos worshipers? Hmmm.
Heh... is Santa a secularized sanitized version of Cernunnos? Does Cernunnos pop up once in a while in some nightmarish version in art, such as Mathias Grunewald’s “Temptation of St. Anthony”?
http://d32dm0rphc51dk.cloudfront.net/Aj5czSXJ89x5g38KPeoWAA/large.jpg
Probably busted off, it appears to have suffered some degradation during its long burial.
Antlers, as well as cattle horns, were a big deal in Catal Huyuk during the stone age:
http://www.google.com/search?q=antlers+catal+huyuk&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&tbm=isch
:^) Alas, one of their worst episodes.
LOL! Watched that episode last night!
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